Question

she walks in beauty
george gordon byron
she walks in beauty, like the night
of cloudless climes and starry skies;
and all thats best of dark and bright
meet in her aspect and her eyes:
thus mellowd to that tender light
which heaven to gaudy day denies.
one shade the more, one ray the less,
had half impaird the nameless grace
which waves in every raven tress,
or softly lightens oer her face:
where thoughts serenely sweet express
how pure, how dear their dwelling-place.
which best describes the pattern of lines in each stanza of this poem?
a 6 line stanzas in an aababb rhyme scheme
b 6 line stanzas in an ababab rhyme scheme
c 6 line stanzas in an abbabb rhyme scheme
d 6 line stanzas in an abbaab rhyme scheme

Explanation:

To determine the rhyme scheme, we analyze the end - rhymes of each line. Let's label the lines of the first stanza:

• Line 1 (She walks in beauty, like the night): Let's call its rhyme sound 'a'
• Line 2 (Of cloudless climes and starry skies): Rhyme sound 'b'
• Line 3 (And all that's best of dark and bright): Rhyme sound 'a' (matches line 1)
• Line 4 (Meet in her aspect and her eyes): Rhyme sound 'b' (matches line 2)
• Line 5 (Thus mellow'd to that tender light): Rhyme sound 'a' (matches line 1 and 3)
• Line 6 (Which heaven to gaudy day denies): Rhyme sound 'b' (matches line 2 and 4)

So the rhyme scheme of the first stanza (and the pattern for each 6 - line stanza) is ababab. Now let's check the options:

• Option A: aaabbb - Does not match our analysis.
• Option B: aababb - Does not match.
• Option C: abbabb - Does not match.
• Option D: ababab - Matches the rhyme scheme we derived from the first stanza.

Answer:

D. 6 line stanzas in an ababab rhyme scheme